GRAPHIC ARTS . . . Our Logo Designs

Logo by Dakota

Logo by Carter

Graphic artists experimented with the design tools in Adobe Illustrator. Learning how to draw shapes and add color is just the first step in graphic design. To make our logos, we also added our initials to the block of color. The letters could be any typeface and they should read well as a white shape in the color square. To make it a more dynamic design, the letters must touch each other and at least one part of one of the letters has to touch a side of the square. Here are more of our logo designs . . .

Logo by Ava G

Logo by Ava J.

Logo by Gabriel G.

Logo by Petra

Logo by Rianna

Logo by Gabrielle

Logo by John C.

Logo by Logan

Logo by Maggie

Logo by Nico

Logo by Sean

FOURTH GRADE . . . Animals in their natural habitat

Drawing by Ava G.

Why would an artist want to draw upside down? I don't suggest that an artist should stand on his or her head . . . but to draw an image that is turned around. It is a challenge for art students to learn how to observe the world as an artist does and see all the fine details of an image correctly. Drawing this way can trick your eyes into observing more of the fine details of the picture.

For example, when you look at a picture of a horse the regular way, your mind invariably takes over as you are drawing and you tend to draw what you remember how a horse looks, not focusing on the details in the picture in front of you. The image of the horse in your mind probably has an four thin legs as all horses do. But are you really seeing those legs as they appear in the picture, with all the angles and the lines?

Now look at this upside down picture of a horse. By turning the image around, we do not automatically see a horse, but a random design of angles and curved lines. It is much easier to notice how to draw the legs this way. Even the negative space in between the legs is easier to see and that can help us identify the shape of each leg.


Our drawings in class were created by looking at upside down photographs of wild animals in their natural habitat. This was a hard project for all of us but I am very proud of how accurate they turned out. Even the design in the colorful feathers and fur was a challenge to observe! Once we completed our drawings with pencil, we used blends of colored pencils to complete the scenes. To see all of our wildlife studies, click on this link to the Ranney home page on Artsonia.   http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Drawing by Marley L.

Drawing by Alex G.

Drawing by Rianna K.

Drawing by Desmond P.

Drawing by Sophia B.

Drawing by Adam T.

Drawing by Ruby B.

Note to families...
This art blog will be updated regularly with new posts sharing our daily activities in the art room and news about upcoming art exhibits. To respect the privacy of our students, names will always be limited to first name only and identifiable photos will never be accompanied with a name. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to write in the comment box below or send me an email at blevine@ranneyschool.org. I would love to hear from you!
    In my class, students are given the chance to explore different materials and fun new techniques as they develop their signature style. Some young artists love to draw with a pencil, some like to paint on canvas or create images in a digital format, while others prefer working with clay and molding three-dimensional forms. In my classroom, we use a variety of materials allowing all artists to experiment and figure out which type of art they like the best. At Ranney School, we place a strong emphasis on originality and celebrate artistic differences, always nurturing and encouraging the imagination of every student.
     Remember to check out our display of finished artwork and student portfolios in the Ranney home page of Artsonia.com.  http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

A FIFTH GRADE new year!

Happy New Year from our artists in 5th grade! 

Students were asked to draw a graphic celebrating 2017. Here are some of their designs...

Sketch by Claire

Sketch by Sophia

Sketch by Balkan

Sketch by Mason

Sketch by Sophie

Sketch by Starlette

FIFTH GRADE . . . Happy Holidays!

Ornament by Claire

These are few of our ornament sketches the fifth grade artists presented this week in art class. They were asked to draw an ornament that celebrates their traditions at home. It could symbolize a holiday or represent their love for the winter season.

Happy holidays to all of our Lower School families!

Ornament by Dylan

Ornament by Lindsay

Ornament by Sophia

Ornament by Shaya

Ornament by Matteo

Ornament by Crosby

BEGINNERS . . . Bring on the snow!

Snowman by Logan

Beginners are continuing to become more confident artists, drawing and painting circles. Our snowmen paintings began with three large circles painted with a big brush and white paint. We added paper hats, scarves with fringes, and carrot-shaped noses. These young artists also added twigs for arms, a face and buttons going down the front of their well-dressed but very cold friends. Happy winter everyone!

To see all of our snowmen paintings, visit our portfolios at artsonia.com ...
http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Snowman by Aaliya

Snowman by Henry

Snowman by David

SECOND GRADE . . . A still life arrangement

Still life by Juily

Second graders completed their still life studies in art class. We created an arrangement of round objects on a table and many of the students added colorful tablecloths with an interesting background too.

Every round object we created began with a circle or an oval. The top of a vase or a bowl looks like a circle when you look straight down at the object, but when it is placed on an table and you see it from a distance, the top circle appears more as an oval. Even the bottom line of the vase appears to have the same curve as the oval at the top. Understanding how to represent a round object on paper helps us to better see the form. Once we created an interesting arrangement with overlapping objects and added in the details of our fruit, the table and the background, we had fun coloring in our scenes.

Here are a few more wonderful examples of our still life drawings. You can see everyone's work by following this link to artsonia.com.     http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Still Life by Brooks

Still Life by Ava

Still Life by Brooke

Still Life by Cash

Still Life by Lexi

Note to families...
This art blog will be updated regularly with new posts sharing our daily activities in the art room and news about upcoming art exhibits. To respect the privacy of our students, names will always be limited to first name only and identifiable photos will never be accompanied with a name. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to write in the comment box below or send me an email at blevine@ranneyschool.org. I would love to hear from you!
    In my class, students are given the chance to explore different materials and fun new techniques as they develop their signature style. Some young artists love to draw with a pencil, some like to paint on canvas or create images in a digital format, while others prefer working with clay and molding three-dimensional forms. In my classroom, we use a variety of materials allowing all artists to experiment and figure out which type of art they like the best. At Ranney School, we place a strong emphasis on originality and celebrate artistic differences, always nurturing and encouraging the imagination of every student.
     Remember to check out our display of finished artwork and student portfolios in the Ranney home page of Artsonia.com.  http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

KINDERGARTEN . . .Painting like Eric Carle

Many of our students in Kindergarten are familiar with the illustrations and stories of Eric Carle books. “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” and “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?” are two examples of his popular stories. Eric Carle’s “The Artist who Painted a Blue Horse,” is the book we are using as inspiration for our newest project.

Eric Carle created his illustrations as a collage of cut, painted papers.  To do our project, we looked carefully at the color wheel in the art room. If we want to paint with more than one color, as Eric Carle did with his blue horse (there are strokes of purple in his blue horse!), it helps to choose two colors close to each other on the color wheel. Yellow and orange would work together, as would blue and green. Any color painted with white is another option. And if two primary colors mix together, such as yellow and blue, we will also have a secondary color (in this case, green) where the two colors blend together.

Our painted papers turned out as beautiful paintings and they deserve to be shown off before they are turned into animals! Abstract artists work hard to achieve this level of beauty and design with just a few brush strokes. After the holidays, we will be cutting our animal shapes out of our painted papers and painting a background for the scenes. Here are a few examples of our work in progress...

Painting by Andrew

Painting by Ayla

Painting by Ben

Painting by Christo

Painting by Holden

Painting by Katya

PRE-KINDERGARTEN . . . Our colorful forests

Forest scene by Matthew

The autumn sky is always filled with such brilliant colors and we filled our wonderful forest scenes with so many colors! The background is painted with just primary colors, but we were able to also create lovely shades of green, orange, and purple everywhere the watercolors blended together. To create the bark for the trees we drew random lines on brown paper and then cut the paper into strips. We are still learning how to control our scissors properly and any irregularly cut edges made for the most realistic looking trees! The adorable animals were drawn separately and then the entire scene was glued together as a collage.

Here are a few more examples of our artwork. To see all of our forests, check out our home page of artsonia.com with this link...    http://www.artsonia.com/schools/school.asp?id=114839

Forest by Maya

Forest by Oliver

Forest by Lily

Forest by Lila